"In the neighbouring district of Pratapgarh, a dalit girl was raped and murdered recently. Undoubtedly, it was a shocking incident. But what is more appalling is that 18 persons, all Hindus, have been falsely implicated by the administration and put behind the bars.
"We have got complaints that this has been done to shield the real culprits, all of whom belong to the minority community," VHP international working president Pravin Togadia told reporters here.
He demanded that the "innocent Hindus be released and the real culprits arrested at the earliest, their trial conducted expeditiously and death penalty ensured for their ghastly deed."
"The SP's politics of Muslim appeasement has never been a secret. But ever since the party has come to power in UP, Muslim appeasement seems to have become a government policy. It has begun to appear that though Akhilesh Yadav may be the Chief Minister, the strings are pulled by his cabinet colleague Azam Khan and the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid," he said.
The VHP leader also said that in the next few months, the outfit aimed at inducting 51 lakh youths from across the country of which 11 lakh would be from Uttar Pradesh, which is badly in need of "committed Hindus who can work for benefit of their community".